Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) approved a global standard for terrestrial use of 2.483.5 – 2.495 GHz spectrum in December 2018. Band 53, also called the S-band, now permits LTE services in the U.S. with additional geographies expected to be added in 2019.

The companies said band 53 could effectively handle the mission-critical communications needs of electric, gas and water utilities.

Utilities have not had dedicated spectrum capable of delivering the growing bandwidth demand of their applications available. And they lack an efficient private broadband solution for remote sites such as wind farms as well as areas of the grid with a limited widely dispersed need for communications. With Nokia’s private LTE solutions with terrestrial capabilities based on Band 53, these needs can now be met, a statement said.

“With favorable propagation characteristics including low interference, high capacity and nationwide availability, band 53 is ideal to support next-generation services as utilities undergo a technological transformation requiring extending communications to the edge of their grid,” said Jay Monroe, executive chairman, Globalstar.

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